Yesterday, a military tribunal – aka kangaroo court – in Kinshasa sentenced Joseph Kabila to death in absentia, and ordered him to pay a US$33 billion fine.
It was a sham “trial”; a desperate performance staged by a ruler who confuses cheap vengeance with justice. Tshisekedi has exposed himself once again as a man who can do anything, except govern with wisdom, intelligence, trust or competence.
Kabila ruled Congo for 18 years and stepped down peacefully. He handed power to Tshisekedi to avoid dragging the country into bloodshed. Tshisekedi knows he never won any election and everyone knows it. The man was a pizza delivery worker in Belgium before being parachuted into the presidency.
Instead of humility, he chose arrogance. Instead of gratitude, he chose meaningless vengeance.
The death sentence against Kabila carries even more absurdity when you consider the timing. Just days ago, Kabila and Tshisekedi met in South Africa. Whatever disagreements emerged in that meeting, Tshisekedi’s answer was to run back to Kinshasa and order his kangaroo courts to condemn his predecessor. That was not politics, it was desperation, cowardice wrapped in legal robes.
Even his regional peers saw through it. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe had both cautioned Tshisekedi not to persecute or blackmail Kabila. They warned him not to seize the former president’s properties. But like a stubborn child, Tshisekedi ignored their counsel and charged ahead into disgrace. When you cannot listen to your friends, how can you ever lead a nation?
The truth is, this reckless move may end up doing the very opposite of what Tshisekedi wants. Kabila’s family already lives in exile, their properties looted and destroyed by a vengeful state. But with this death sentence, Tshisekedi risks pushing Kabila straight into the arms of the AFC/M23. And if that happens, Tshisekedi will have handed his greatest rival a perfect excuse to re-enter Congo’s political and military stage not as a former leader, but as a liberator once again.
Sentencing Kabila will not solve Congo’s economic collapse. It will not bring peace to the east. It will not feed the hungry or fix the crumbling institutions. It only shows the world what many already know: Tshisekedi is the wrong man, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Inept and illegitimate Tshisekedi thinks he has scored a victory. In reality, he has only sharpened the knife pointed at his own regime. It is only in Kinshasa, where you can find a president who spends his days inventing new ways to embarrass himself and his country.